Things Are Looking Good!

Last week I went in for a blood pressure check since my BP has been a little elevated despite being on Lisinopril. I honestly felt that it was probably a little high due to being sick and getting over all that mumbo jumbo. Well, my blood pressure was 110/63 that day which is on target if maybe a bit low. I'm glad that now that I feel better, my BP has come down.

Since I had been having so many dangerous lows with Glipizide, my doctor took me off it and started me back on Metformin slowly. I started out with 1 500mg pill per day. When that didn't cause any stomach issues, we increased it to 2 500mg pills per day. Once we determined that was well tolerated, I went to 3 500mg per day. I had very slight stomach issues which I felt I could deal with since the benefit far outweighs the occasional discomfort. Despite the Metformin, my blood sugar was not coming down to my ideal range. I was waking up with sugars in the 140-160 range no matter how minimal my carb intake was the night before. I do feel that I suffer from the dawn phenomenon which makes my blood sugar spike in the night so I became frustrated with my results. I have weekly calls with one of my doctors and we agreed to reintroduce Glipizide but do half a dosage at lunch and the other half at dinner. I immediately saw much better blood sugar numbers but, once again, I was dipping a little too low at bedtime. Low blood sugar episodes at night are very scary, and I definitely don't want to go through that again. I started to eat a small snack after dinner so that my blood sugar doesn't get too low. So far, it is working out but I have to be very vigilant with my blood sugar. I think I have gotten pretty good at identifying the dips but it's important to try to prevent them in the first place.

When I went in for my BP check, I also asked them to weigh me. The nurse laughed when I told him that I'm probably one of the few people who actually ask to be weighed! Well, I am down another 7lbs and that was strictly off diet because I did not really exercise much in July due to the infection I was dealing with. Not too long ago I was at around 265lbs and I am now down to 229lbs. This feels amazing and it's helping to keep me motivated. I actually had to buy a few new pairs of pants because nothing else fit me anymore besides my lounge wear which is stretchy and comfy.

I am still working on my diet. I think that is the hardest part because it's so hard to cook for 1 person. I am pretty good at eating lower carb, but I think I have to also work on reducing my fat intake since I also have high cholesterol. This will be a work in progress and I hope to get more aggressive with my efforts this month.

My next order for bloodwork is coming up in September so I sincerely hope that I will have my AIC down to the recommended range. I know it might not get there this time around, but I will definitely get there! I also hope to lose a little bit more of weight and that will entail me committing to getting active. I will try to walk every day after dinner and try to do some kind of aerobic or strength exercises. I am seeing so many positive results from my efforts that I am super motivated to keep it up.

Well, I hope that you're doing well and that you'll continue to stop by and check in on my progress. 

-Cynthia